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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27934075">One Last Smile</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/animangod/pseuds/animangod'>animangod</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Feels, Dead People, Emotional Hurt, Family Feels, Gaslit boys get a better future, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Rescue Missions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 21:48:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>3,132</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27934075</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/animangod/pseuds/animangod</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Fay D. Fluorite &amp; Kurogane, Kurogane &amp; Original Fay (Tsubasa), Original Fay &amp; Yuui</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>"How much would it cost to see him again?" Kurogane's voice rarely trembled, but it did as he asked Watanuki that question. His eyes were redder than usual, bloodshot from all the crying he'd done when he didn't have to be strong for Syaoran and Mokona's sake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a heavy-hearted weight to the air as nothing was said. They all knew that bringing Fai back to life was impossible. Even knowing that, Kurogane held onto a desperate shred of hope that said somewhere in the multiverses, his Fai was still alive.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Kurogane-san…" Watanuki finally spoke, "I understand how you feel." They all did, truthfully. And while Watanuki still waited for a time when his Yuuko would be born again, he knew he could help but it was not such a simple thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"While there is one timeline where he is still alive, it is one where he has never met you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That's… that's fine," Kurogane replied. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Very well…" Even with a solution, the situation was not ideal. He lifted up an ear clip that looked very similar to one of the Mokonas' earrings. "This has enough magical energy to get one person to that world and for one person to arrive here after one week has passed."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"That means Kuro-chan would be all by himself in that world?" Mokona asked, their voice soft and worried for their friend, their family member.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's the best I can offer," Watanuki said and his tone suggested he wished he could do more, but the price would be too high to pay if he offered more or it would force himself to suffer backlash for accepting too little payment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And in exchange?" Kurogane asked, his throat tight with emotion. Part of him didn't care what price it cost if it meant he got to see him again but he still cared about his current family that he refused to recklessly accept without knowing what he was giving up.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>The swirl of magic deposited him safely in the new world. He took a moment to gather his bearings before there was a chilling realization, a cold shiver that crept through his spine as even from this distance, he saw a structure too unmistakable. He had seen it before, in the flashbacks Ashura had shown him. He suddenly knew - when Watanuki said there was only one world left with his Fai, it was the world that had tossed him into a pit for being born a twin. He was in the twins' first homeworld, Valeria.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>So after writing this, I carefully looked at Ch 155-158 where we see The Twins in order to better examine the tower fot the next chapter and realized one panel makes it clear Yuui was not trying to scale the Tower but the wall in front of his brother. So added Canon Divergence rather than change it.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Kurogane stood at the edge of the Valley, feeling the way it stopped the spell on his hand from working. There was a vulnerability there, unable to summon as he wished, when he wished. He could imagine Mokona felt the same way in the magical Library before Fai used a spell to build a barrier to negate the spell affecting their teleportation.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His heart still ached. Part of him wanted to rewrite the past, make it so he didn't have to outlive his Fai, but no matter how much that hurt, he already knew that was an impossible wish. So instead he focused on what he could do, and that involved finding where in this world his Fai, the real Yuui, was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had thought just seeing him once again, just knowing he was alive would be enough and seeing his smile one last time, but now… Now that he knew which world held the last remnant of his Fai, he wasn't sure that would be so easy to accomplish. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With the sack of things he had brought - some food, a pen and empty journal book for communication purposes, a spare set of clothes and things Syaoran and Mokona had pulled from their stock of bartering items - he set out across the Valley  towards the Tower and pit. He needed to know if they were there like they were in the memories he had once seen in a frozen, dying world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe these boys got out, maybe they were never put in, or as his gut said, they were left there - a casualty of the King's madness, and unlike the one he had grown to know and love like life itself, there was no Fei Reed to kill the real Fai nor Ashura coming to free them from the Tower and Pit. Trapped and forever seeking a way out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He crossed across the snow-laden valley, never losing sight of where he was heading, the Tower acting like a sailor's North star for him. He had to see with his own eyes if the twins were there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he finally made it, he saw what he expected to be there - bodies piled up the side of the Tower, only snow to hide the amount of bodies that could not decompose, left mostly in the same condition. So many bodies lay strewn in the pit that his own kill count seemed demure in comparison.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On top of the pile was the only body in the pit that still had any life. Looking further up, he felt more than saw the same spark of life. He briefly wondered if the result of this reality was from stopping Fei Reed, when the kids did their best to fix all the timelines. A simple proof that Fai and Yuui were always meant to be twins and deserved so much better than Valeria would allow them. Their hearts were full of love and compassion while their people gave in to fear and political scapegoating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked along the outskirts, using the higher advantage he had while it was there, looking for the best way to get to both boys. As he stood there, observing what was available, it became abundantly clear, Yuui could have always escaped by himself if he had built the hill of bodies away from the Tower rather than up. Instead, he never tried to leave by himself. He had always intended they would go together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He understood that feeling all too well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kurogane moved to the ledge, and jumped down, landing atop the dead. He tried not to think too deeply about what crimes these people were accused of before being sentenced to death and left in the Pit, or how many were just as innocent but punished anyway just for being born or fighting to make Valeria a better country. He couldn't waste time now thinking over those deaths when there was still life here to preserve.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Here were lives worth being saved, of protected, of offered something better.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Bright blue eyes snapped open as he heard the crunch of stepped-on bodies and bones that made an uncomfortable snap when a single misplaced step slipped and went through a corpse. Yuui skuttled closer to the Tower- closer to his brother who grasped at the bars to the window as he looked on from above - as Kurogane, with his foreign looks and foreign clothes, steadily approached. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Kurogane got close, he squatted down before the boy in front of him and held out an open hand as he tried to remember the words Fai had taught him so long ago. The words came out clumsy, heavy and grammatically broken, a language he had never mastered, yet had taken an interest in back in those long months of Yama, finding the language naturally beautiful. As beautiful as he found Valeria ugly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuui blinked, surprised by this stranger's behavior, the ease of walking through a valley of death only to offer gentleness towards him. Standing up, he slowly asked, "Are you from another world?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kurogane understood half of what was asked - knowing 'you' and 'world' and it was a question by his tone. Everything else was guess work. He nodded, before lowering the sack off of his good shoulder. He watched Yuui, took in as much as he could about his condition, before pulling out his journal and pen. He knew, no matter how good his penmanship was normally, he had no idea how to read or write in Valerian. He hoped young Yuui would be able to understand pictographs instead.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Fai had prayed many times for someone - anyone - to take Yuui away from there. He no longer cared if he made it out with him as long as Yuui made it out. If Yuui had a better future, that was enough for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fai watched in anxious anticipation as his prayers at long last received some sort of response. A tall, scary looking man who was not phased at all by the field of bodies, didn't flinch in the face of death, walked right up to Yuui as though he had come here just for him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He realized after a little bit, the stranger had indeed come here for him, and he felt relief that finally, </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally</span>
  </em>
  <span> someone would be there for Yuui. Someone would finally take Yuui away from here. He continued to look on as the man moved to rest and write something down before showing it to Yuui.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stared down and saw that spark of hope reignite as Yuui looked up towards him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He felt the relief sink deep in his bones, before he heard Yuui call up. "We're going to get out. He is here to help us."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>We? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Fai looked down with surprised yet cautiously optimistic eyes. How were they both supposed to get out? He had already given up hope he would ever get out himself, at least alive, but it never stopped him from praying and wishing for his brother's sake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kurogane stood up and moved to the tower, and spoke down at Yuui in his gentlest voice. "Behind me."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had used the command in battle before. It was one of the first things Fai had taught him - acting out the meaning inside their tent in order to teach it faster - and one of the few he had used on the battlefield prior to the kids' arrival. The cacophony of colliding swords, arrows crashing into armor and other clamor kept the other soldiers from overhearing the foreign words said only for Fai's benefit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kurogane waited until Yuui was safely behind him before he moved closer to the Tower. It was designed without any visible door. Without magic able to open portals to other spaces while physically outside the Valley, there was no hope of magically getting up to Fai. Thankfully, he had no need for magic. As there was no door handy, he made his own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He used his metal fist and swung hard enough to shatter a hole through the Tower with more force than he used against a pillar in Tokyo's building or the wall in the acid lady's prison. The Tower was constructed similarly to the wall surrounding the pit, and as expected, the bricks caved under the force. If he had to climb the wall like Yuui or break through to the insides of the Tower, he was going to. Fai deserved the freedom just as much as Yuui, and he wasn't going to leave the Valley without both in tow.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once both boys were together once more, Kurogane wasted little time smashing the Tower, weakening its structure like a wedge cut tree. When it reached the tipping point, he moved to hold both boys protectively close as the tower came down, bricks toppling over bricks, snow and the dead. It fell almost exactly where he had intended while he made sure no stray piece struck the twins. They had suffered enough inside the Valley as it was. He wasn't about to intentionally inflict more pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the last brick fell into place, he moved to inspect the damage. In theory, he could climb out himself as it lay but with an arm or two full of twin boys, he needed steadier footing in order not to go crashing down and hurt them. After a few moments of analysis, he nodded briefly to himself before he tugged off his cloak and wrapped it over the boys' shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He heard them quietly talk to each other, and saw how tightly they clutched each other's hand. Kurogane assumed they had missed that after so long apart. He made a gesture to wait where they were before he turned to the rubble.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Much like Yuui had done with the deceased, he moved the fallen bricks by hand, in order to make it closer to a set of stairs to climb out of the Pit. It was tedious and hard and the cold bit deep into what remained of his severed arm, but he ignored the pain as best he could. Yuui had refused to give up on escaping the Valley with Fai and he refused to give up on getting them both out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Time ran strangely inside the Valley, practically stagnant - he noticed rather than felt the effects as he worked. The kind of work to be done took a lot of energy, and yet … he felt no new fatigue. His mind wandered a lot as he worked, filled with thoughts of his loved ones. Occasionally, he turned from his task to check on the boys.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he caught them sleeping atop his cloak and the dead, nestled into each other, he stopped and found an adult that still had a coat. He silently apologized - remembered those charged with sin were given only white garb and so they were simply murdered - before he stripped their coat off their body to use as a blanket. His cloak would help but the furry coat would help warm their thin bodies.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He took a moment to rest and watch over the boys, before he returned to work. Brick upon brick and row upon row of bricks, he slowly made progress in building a terraced-style path up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the twins awoke, they caught on to what he was doing and together they moved bricks to help. When Kurogane noticed, he offered them a small smile in exchange before he gently held their scarred hands and softly ushered them back into resting up while he continued to work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually, there was enough of a path available that with only a little effort, Kurogane could get all three of them out of the Pit.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Content with how close they were, he turned his attention back onto the twins. Curiosity had finally gotten to them. With the cloak and coat draped over them, they quietly investigated the sack Kurogane brought with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked closer, and there was a brief look of panic - as though they were sure they had done something wrong - and they moved away from the sack.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walked to his sack and placed the journal and pen inside before he shut it. He then kneeled and held his hands out towards the twins. Slowly, they moved forward, hand in hand. He slung his bag over his shoulder before he lifted the twins and held them securely. Barefoot as they were, he was not about to make them walk over the snow and debris. Not as long as he had the strength to carry them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shifted his cloak to better act as a blanket for them, tucked the edges of the coat in to keep out most of the cold and with those he came for held close to his chest, he marched them out of the Pit.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The Valley was a cold, unforgiving stretch of land, with no clear landmark of where to head and snow slowly fell, but Kurogane supposed that hardly mattered so long as he made it out of the Valley. Time may not flow normally there, but it was not fully stagnant and he needed to be out of it in order for the earring's magic to eventually activate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would frequently peek on how the twins currently fared. When he caught them asleep in his arms, he slowed down so they could sleep easier.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knew the moment he was no longer under the influence of the Valley, as the familiar sensation of being able to summon from his hand returned. It was a feeling he knew so well, so similar to the one Fai had once cast on his hand in Infinity before he sacrificed it in Celes to keep Fai with him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But this spell was given to him by Tomoyo with the return of Ginryuu, a gift and acknowledgement of how far he had come in his personal growth. With it, there were many times he sheathed Ginryuu to protect his family with love and two supportive arms rather than physical strength alone, and many times he used his physical strength to demonstrate that love by cutting down threats to his family.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right now though, he showed it with two arms wrapped around his precious cargo, his sword sheathed but ready should any of the Valerians attempt to stop him from his mission.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The twins lightly stirred, and he imagined they understood or felt as much, both more sensitive to magical energies than he would ever be. He was fine with that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yuui spoke first as he peeked the top of his head out from underneath the cloak. "Where are you heading?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Somewhere. Long distance," Kurogane spoke, reminded a little of that song Fai loved in Outo about a City of Wind.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He knew already that there must've been a better word or phrase for what he wanted to say, but Fai had been practical with what he taught him in his mix of Valerian and Celesian. From words and phrases useful in battle - just enough to get a message across - to some for more relaxed or intimate times. A good idea, they reasoned, in case they came across another time when Mokona got separated from them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shifted his hand to gently touch the top of Yuui's head, pushing frayed blond hair out of his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Rest."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a reassuring calmness there, and even if Yuui didn't know where this stranger intended to take them, he felt the safest held in this man's arms than he had in the longest of times.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He moved the coat and cloak back over his head as he softly spoke with Fai, thoughts about studying magic and traveling worlds, before he cut those thoughts short - feeling the heavy weight of the words instilled into him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fai squeezed his hand a little tighter, looking heartbroken and guilty as he silently blamed himself for his brother's suffering.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kurogane wasn't positive what to say to cheer up the boys, having felt the sudden shift in energy from them so he quietly hummed a tune Fai had taught him, a type of lullaby he said had helped him sleep.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He had no idea which of the worlds it heralded from, but he hoped it made the twins feel safe and comfortable as he carried them.</span>
</p>
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